Sign up today for Post Pro Picks, The Post's free, weekly NFL pick 'em game, where you can win great prizes, form groups to play against your friends, see how you fare against our experts or just play for fun. Register at http://washingtonpost.com/pro-picks

Third Downs Are Primary Concern

In the Redskins' 17-13 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Saturday, the first-team defense performed poorly on third downs.

With the Redskins' defensive starters in the game, the Steelers gained three first downs on four third-down plays. That's just unacceptable, especially for a defense that is expected to be even better than one that ranked fourth in the NFL last season.

"You're always concerned when they convert third and long. We talked about it," defensive coordinator Greg Blache said. "It's a matter of doing what you're supposed to do with some passion and doing what you're supposed to do with some consistency. And we didn't do it."

With two preseason games remaining against the New England Patriots and Jacksonville Jaguars, Blache expects to see major improvement quickly.

"That'll be a big test for us in the next two weeks, to see if we can get that converted," Blache said. "You can't be a good defense when you're letting people convert third downs on you. They're getting too many shots at you."

Short Story: Some Guys Can Play

Chase Daniel is itty-bitty. So was a guy named Flutie and Redskins offensive assistant coach Chris Meidt idolized him as a kid. Meidt talks to Dan Steinberg about Daniel, Flutie and Drew Brees.

I'm not worried at all about the defense. Third downs will be fine when we have Hayneswoth/Orakpo/Carter collapsing the pocket. We struggled mightily last year stopping teams on 3rd down, especially in the 4th quarter when teams like Dallas and even the Rams were able to drive down for game winning scores/or game ending drives...

However, this year we can get pressure, which can help contain the run as well as disrupt the passing game. We will be fine defensively as long as we stay healthy, again not an easy task... but as of now I am not at all concerned about this.

jm, from that story it sounds like those people made an honest mistake, albeit one with tragic circumstances for their family. Could've happened to anyone.

For you to compare that to Michael Vick's ongoing management and financing of an illegal dogfighting operation and his participation in a long pattern of abusing and killing dogs --- which I think is what you're doing with that PETA crack -- is a bit of a stretch, don't you think?

Should we be happy or worried that they're saying on the Redskins website that the offense "owned" the defense today? Is the defense playing down to the level of competition in camp or is the offense finally stepping it up?

Didn't Haynesworth only play 4 plays? Weren't those the 4 plays that made the Steelers offensive line fold like those $10 camping chairs? If Dhall wouldn't have headbutted that guy then their first posession would have been a complete disaster.

They didn't score on the first possession either... the only time they got points on the first team defense was when we gave them a super short field and they connected a few third down passes... frustrating but if they had to go from their 20 or even 30 I dont see them getting anything... and if it wasn't from our like 40 then I'd bet they get nothing better than a fg. Defense is fine... stop worrying about it

Management tried to replace him twice during the offseason. He has a 43.1 passer rating this preseason. But Jason Campbell can still poke fun at cornerbacks Carlos Rogers and Shawn Springs.

Asked about going against New England Patriots newcomer Springs, his teammate the past four years whom he faced in practice as the scout team quarterback in 2005, Campbell teased, "You know Springs. Let me see if he's going to play first. Me and Springs are good friends so I can joke with him like that."

Campbell said that he ran into the oft-injured veteran at a Washington Kastles match before training camp began.

"The first thing he wanted to talk about was 'I can't wait to play against you. All the times that we had in practice, now I get to come there live,' " Campbell said. "I was like, 'All right Springs, if you play.' "

Rogers, the other half of Washington's usual cornerback tandem from 2005-08, won't play against the Patriots with a calf injury, the same ailment that plagued Springs last August.

"I told Carlos, 'Is Springs rubbing off on you?,' " Campbell said before adding that his college and pro teammate wouldn't miss the game if he wasn't seriously ailing.

Re: nameless one - my guess is that the WaPo has been blocking the user account, which explains why the posting name has changed several times over the last few days. For some reason this SORRY_IDIOT gets juiced by playing cat and mouse with WaPo web admin.

Defensive tackle: This was not a weakness but the Redskins signed Albert Haynesworth to a contract that could be worth well over $100 million. His impact on opponents will be gauged during the season but the two-time All Pro pick not only makes the guys around him better but the guys across from him as well. “He is getting Dockery ready to play,” Bugel says. “Dock has to go against him in pass protection every day and it’s full bore and Albert can move this building if he decides to do it. He’s made Dock a more aware pass protector.”

The redskins are going to be fine. We will be within a game of 8-8 and maybe squeak into the playoffs if we are lucky. It will be a season of close wins and close losses and alot of what-ifs. We will go back to a few games we should have won at the end of the year and say we were better than our record. Then we will make a big splash signing in the off season and do it all over again. How long have you been watching this team? Don't you know how things work around here the last 15 years or so?

I second Beantown...her parents...if they were not already dead...would think it even lovelier. Not one to rejoice in anyone elses tragedy but certainly there are greater Americans to be mournful over. You only have to look at Iraq and Afghanistan to see examples of these every day.

4th, evening it out...he might have done some wonderful things during his political career, however he killed a woman and got away with it because of his last name....that should NEVER be over looked....

In terms of the offense gelling, we'll get to see a much bigger picture this Friday night against the Patriots. As it stands there have only been a few series in total where the whole projected starting offense has been on the field for a preseason game. And what I saw of the starters in the running game against Pittsburgh was awesome. To rush like that against a top 5 defense is a good omen for our offense.

I love the fact that the 'skins first three preseason games are against top teams in the AFC. It's a great test for them, especially the Patriots.

I think this year could be special. Why do I think that every year, despite the annual December/January letdown?

So, now the Chase Daniel - Doug Flutie comparisons are coming... The guy had one good quarter and they are already comparing him to Flutie? Give me a break. I would like to see more before I jump on the bandwagon. Let's see him heave one deep, deep and hit his target in stride. Marko Mitchell, here's your shot...

Supplemental draft kid - AKA Jarmon - has been subbing into the Dline in each preseason game. He's gotten good reviews, but no highlight reel stuff. He's out there and getting reps for now. Wonder if he will see playing time in the reg season?

About to repeat post on the new senior HOF nominees (Dick LeBeau and Floyd Little) and the anti-Redskin bias with the HOF. No issue with LeBeau, its about time coordinators got a shot. Little, however ... another story. Here's hoping I don't get beeped. A 4 parter to follow, but bottom line, another great Redskin -- or 2 -- are getting screwed.

The HOF old timers have done it again. Overlooked the Redskins. Not only Chris Hanburger, a 9 time pro bowler (more than any player not in the hall), but another Redskin, who was a better player at a similar position to a guy that got selected. Floyd Little was a fine RB for the not so fine Broncos, but how does he stack up compared to our own Larry Brown?

Post season:
Brown, in 6 games (there was a 7th where he barely played), he averaged over 100 yards/game rushing + receiving. Brown was a major reason the Skins made it to the post season.

Little never played in a playoff game

Special teams:
Little was a major return threat in his first 2 years. In 1967 and 1968, he was in the top 4 in both punt and kickoff return averages, in both seasons. Those were the only years where he was in the top 10 in either category. Two of his 54 career TDs came on kick returns. Little ranks 27th all-time in yds/punt return and 86th in yards/kick return.

Little played 15 more games than Brown, gained 381 more yards from scrimmage than Brown. Brown scored 1 more TD than Little. If you add in post season games, Brown had more rushing yards, more receiving yards and more TDs than Little, while playing in 8 fewer games (roughly 1/2 a season). Brown was a dominant player, including the league's MVP in 1972.

Little was in the top ten in yards from scrimmage 4 times. He led the league in that area once and was 3rd another time. Brown was in the top ten 5 times (consecutively -- his knee injury came in his 6th year), led the league once and was 2nd in the league twice.

Stats are readily compared, but other factors can have an impact. One such factor favoring Little is that Denver, for all its success in the past 25+ years, is under represented in Canton. Only Elway and Gary Zimmerman (5 years as a Bronco) are in and no one else is likely to get in unless its via the oldtimer route. Randy Gradishar was a frequent finalist, but his eligibility finished. In the year prior to Monk and Green entering the Hall, it seemed that people started to notice that the Gibbs era, with 3 Lombardis, had only 1 HOF player ... who only played in 1 SB. There were plenty of "something is wrong with this picture" comments, especially with teams like the Bears and Bills having more HOF entrants, despite fewer rings. While Monk may have benefitted from the obvious questions last year, Little probably got some benefit this year.

Little's special team play probably helped him significantly, though it was really only 2 years of stellar play on teams. But its clear that Brown was a better RB than Little. And its not that close. As his peak, Larry Brown was a dominating running back and perhaps the best player in football. Floyd Little was not quite in that category. Brown suffered a debilitating knee injury (blame the miserable the philly artificial turf) that resulted in relatively ineffective seasons in his last few years. Still, Brown accomplished virtually identical numbers to Little, in 1 season less.

Should we be happy or worried that they're saying on the Redskins website that the offense "owned" the defense today? Is the defense playing down to the level of competition in camp or is the offense finally stepping it up?

Posted by: RedSkinHead | August 26, 2009 3:40 PM | Report abuse

We should be skpetical. I assume that:

1) The Skins propaganda machine is in full effect trying to donwplay offensive woes

2) The defense is tired of trashing our offense in practice and they're just saving it for real games now

The league has to look at guys who played well for mediocre teams, and Little was clearly that guy. Then add the under representation for Denver, Little's good RB numbers and his excellent special teams work in his 1st 2 seasons and you get this questionable nomination. Because there is really no comparison. Comparing Brown's best to Little's best, its an easy call. Larry Brown deserves a shot at the HOF. And he deserved it before Floyd Little.

Just finished catching up on RI from last night. I'll probably regret this, but:

Because they allow all those troll isp poseurs on here (peaceful2008, HIRE MARTY S, scampbell1975, freakzilla, etc.), one would think that the Post is sanctioning the whole smear campaign..What other conclusion can be drawn??

Posted by: frak | August 25, 2009 10:22 PM

Um. Huh?

I noted a couple of things that annoy me about soccer and posted a funny Newsradio clip. The last thing I recall smearing was some peanut butter on a slice of bread.

I even went back a couple of posts and read for context. Nothin'. Someone wanna fill me in as to why I've apparently made frak's enemies list?

even went back a couple of posts and read for context. Nothin'. Someone wanna fill me in as to why I've apparently made frak's enemies list?

Posted by: freakzilla

*yawn* Because you posted right behind the known a**hole, voicing your support..Your monikers, like your posts, are unimaginative expressions of hate and frustration..razors in the bathtub, clothesline around something tall enough, etc...

"Even when it happened, I knew it was not Tryon. Tryon is a better player than that. Last week is indicative of the player that he is and will be for us." Greg Blache

This is a horrible thing. Blach has so much as conceded Tryon on the team because what he made three tackles and didn't get burned for a TD? How many of those 3rd down conversions were passes to Tryons man. the right answer is 2 of the 3. This guy is going to make the team because he was a higher round draft pick last year. he adds nothing to the team, but he will probably cost a WR or RB that could help the special teams a job. This is terrible

Daniel has gotta be better than Flutie who was the biggest garbage time QB ever. By garbage I mean he never passed from the pocket. He was so short, he couldn't see his receivers so he passed on the run when the pocket broke down.